Air conditioning — basic options and principle of operation

During the summer heat, the room air conditioner becomes a salvation.

A wide selection of air conditioners can be found on the site in the Azbuka climate online store.

But before buying it, it is advisable to correctly calculate its power, depending on the refrigerated room. And figure out which set of functions will be relevant for you.

First, let’s take a closer look at how an air conditioner works. The most popular wall-mounted split systems, consisting of 2 parts:

• Outdoor unit — located outside, on the facade of the house.
• The indoor unit is installed indoors.

These blocks are interconnected by a thin tube filled with refrigerant (more often freon). This refrigerant, getting through the tube into the indoor unit, heats up, taking on a gaseous state (turning into steam), while it takes heat from the room. Then the freon in the vapor state is sent to the outdoor unit, where it is cooled by the built-in fan, the refrigerant turns into a liquid state. Freon gives off heat to the atmosphere, and cooled again sent to the indoor unit. This cycle is constantly repeated.

Criteria for choosing an air conditioner:

• Power is the amount of cold produced (measured in British Thermal Units). The more the air conditioner cools the air, the more electricity it consumes.
• Energy consumption — the level of electricity consumption during the operation of a split system (measured in watts).
• The presence of an inverter – In an inverter air conditioner, the operating power depends on the air temperature in the room. Having cooled the room to the desired temperature, the system switches to the mode of maintaining this temperature, and operates at minimum power. At the same time, the air conditioner works constantly, without turning off, thanks to this they have a longer service life, but they also cost 30 percent more.
• Noise level — usually the indoor unit makes noise in the range of 19-32 dB, this is approximately the volume of a whisper or normal speech. Inverter air conditioners are less noisy, because when they reach the set temperature parameters, they reduce power and work quieter.
• Heating mode — many splits are equipped with an additional function — space heating. This is an additional way to heat the room in the off-season. In this mode, the power consumption is lower than during cooling, but it is not recommended to turn on this mode at temperatures outside the window below -7 (in some models below -20 degrees, as in this case the condenser and drainage system freeze and the device breaks down).
• Dry mode – reduces excessive humidity in the room. In this case, the split system works as if it were cooling, but at lower speeds, when the radiator is slowly blown, moisture condenses on it and is discharged through the drain hose. This is especially true in wet weather, or in rooms with high humidity.
• Ventilation mode — in this mode, the air conditioner moves the air in the room without cooling it. At the same time, the air heated in winter by batteries is evenly distributed throughout the room. The split system does not draw air from the street, but circulates air in the room, working like a regular fan.
• Air cleaning — all air conditioners have coarse filters that contain coarse dust and pet hair. But in a number of models there are also fine air filters, but most often this is a narrow strip of filter material through which only part of the air passes, and the rest of the air remains uncleaned.